This mecca of management education and research retains its numero uno position for years in the Business Today-Nielsen rankings. No other B-school in the country exerts the kind of pull that IIM-A does on wannabe MBAs and recruiters alike. Though many other schools have caught up with or even bettered IIM-A on some of the parameters on which the B-schools are judged, they lack its brand appeal.PREVIOUS YEARS’ RANKING - 2004:1 | 2005:1 | 2006:1 | 2007:1 | 2008:1 | 2009:1

IIM-B differs from IIM-A in that it lacks the latter's sublime appeal. Its brand equity lies in its top-notch facilities and an excellent faculty. For instance, it has one of the best-stocked libraries in this part of the world; it has over 1.83 lakh titles and subscribes to over 4,180 journals. IIM-B is also one of the most important centres of management research with a huge knowledge database.PREVIOUS YEARS’ RANKING - 2004:2 | 2005:2 | 2006:2 | 2007:2 | 2008:2 | 2009:2

Everything in Calcutta may have changed to Kolkata, but not IIM-C, which continues to sport the Calcutta tag. The institute's USP is its excellent placement record as well as teaching techniques that are meant to give a solid foundation to students in general management along with analytical and quantitative s****s. The IIM-C faculty also produces prodigious amount of research papers, making it on par with the best B-schools in the world.PREVIOUS YEARS’ RANKING - 2004:3 | 2005:4 | 2006:3 | 2007:3 | 2008:3 | 2009:3

Apart from its regular two-year MBA course, Faculty of Management Studies' USP has been its programme for working executives that it has been running successfully since long before one-year programmes came into vogue. If it were not for the limitations that being a department of a university imposes on it, FMS would certainly finish in the top three.PREVIOUS YEARS’ RANKING - 2004:6 | 2005:3 | 2006:9 | 2008:9

IIM-L may not have the appeal of the A, B, and C of IIMs, but when it comes to teaching management, it does as well as any of its iconic peers. But its biggest USP is its integration with business. Apart from consultancy, IIM-L offers one of the best management development programmes (MDPs) because of its close links with industry.